Top 10

Top 15 Things Every World of Warcraft Player Should Know

One of the biggest misconceptions that new players have about World of Warcraft is that quests are restricted by race - in other words, that if you're playing a Human, you must take the "Human" quests in Elwynn Forest when you start out. That's simply not true. Players can take any level-appropriate quest regardless of their race. For Alliance players looking to level up a bit faster, there is a bit of a shortcut. Simply head to the hub cities of Ironforge or Stormwind as soon as you're strong enough to get out of the newbie zone (around level 5). From there, find the passage to Teldrassil, the Night Elf homeland and start collecting quests. Teldrassil is very small, contains the hub city of Darnassus that offers every service, and players rarely have to run far to complete quests. You'll find yourself at level 10 or even higher in no time!

5: The Alliance means more content, but more people.

For whatever reason, the Alliance races as a whole (Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, and Gnomes) are more popular with players. This can often mean severe crowding in popular regions along with what we like to call "mass extinction events". That basically means that several quests in the area that require players to kill a particular animal may make it hard to find that animal for a while - and that you may be racing other players who are standing around waiting for them to spawn. The good news is that the Alliance has a lot more quest-based content than the Horde. While this isn't noticeable at the earlier levels, many Horde players often find themselves running low on quests around level 25-30 and being forced to just "farm" random creatures for experience.

The Horde

1: You will end up in the Barrens - accept it.

Throughout the beta process, the one zone that everybody complained about the most was the Barrens, a level 15-20 zone that is quite literally in the center of everything for the Horde. As a result, this zone has the dubious distinction of undergoing almost constant revisions. The good news is, it's much better than it was - the bad news is, it can still be long and tedious. The thing is, most Horde quest lines eventually send players to the Barrens and it contains access to one of the neutral towns where Horde and Alliance players can get together, so the place is absolutely crawling with players. While that can be good for making friends, it's also the place that's the most hunted and overcrowded on the Horde side. Unfortunately, the Barrens is just a fact of life for Horde players - better to go, do what needs to be done, and get out.

2: Want to get to level 10 quickly? Visit dead people.

More accurately, visit Undead people. Since Quests aren't race specific, players can accept any level appropriate quest regardless of their race. That means that Horde players have access to a slight shortcut to level 10 similar to the one enjoyed by Alliance players. In the Horde's case it means hightailing it to the Orc hub city of Orgrimmar as soon as you can survive the trip and catching a zeppelin ride to Tirisfal Glades. Head south from the zeppelin tower to the Undead town of Brill and start looking for quests. Like Teldrassil for Night Elves, the quests in Brill are a bit easier and can usually be solved without a tremendous amount of traveling, significantly shortening your trip to level 10.

3: The Horde has the best and worst hub cities in the game.

Both sides in World of Warcraft have three hub cities designed for players to congregate, buy and sell items, and deal with NPC vendors and trainers. The Horde is blessed with the best and cursed with one of the worst hub cities in the game. The best city to do business with NPCs in is the Undead Undercity. If you have a choice of heading to one hub city, this is the one to pick. It's the smallest major city, meaning you don't have to do a tremendous amount of running to get to the shops you want. The city is also basically a circle - meaning it's almost impossible to get lost. Orgrimmar, the Orc hub city, on the other hand, is incredibly confusing, with twisting paths that sometime loop back on themselves. Orgrimmar means a lot of running and it's all too easy to get lost. It's also kind of the center of the universe for Horde players, so you really do need to learn it if you hope to use the auction or make new friends.